SARIE, July 2014

In the new July 2014 issue, SARIE readers will for the first time see who the Top 36 finalists are in their annual “Cover Face” (Voorbladgesig) Competition. They’re also boasting on the cover that they received almost 12 000 entries, and rightfully so as it’s an amazing amount of entries! Pity that a massive bulk of those were actually quite laughable that the ladies actually thought they stood a stance of even reaching the Top 10 000!

It was very clear that they didn’t read the rules, or the requirements for pictures (there were specific rules to the pose and type of pictures required)… and the pictures that were used to show they are The Next Voorbladgesig of SARIE…? Just hysterical! Like they’ve never seen a SARIE cover before, or live in a fantasy world. (Sorry if I sound rude, but…)

But here’s the thing… there were just under 12 000 entries (which is indeed amazing!), but part of the competition allowed other people to rate/vote for your picture, so everyone was able to promote their own entry. So each of the 12 000 contestants promoted it on their own Facebook page. Their parents and family promoted it on their Facebook page.

If they had Twitter, they promoted it on Twitter. Or on Instagram. Or Pinterest.

It was just EVERYWHERE for about 6 weeks, and South Africans just got a bit tired of it after the first week or so. Gatvol is actually the word. Gatvol of seeing each tannie and their daughter thinking they have the SARIE-factor to be on the cover, and everyone begging everyone to vote for them…

The frustration because of this actually created quite a few funny moments…

But that leaves a debate whether the competition could/should be seen as a success because of the number of entries, or the quality of those, and keeping in mind the frustration it caused to other people. People who might now have a slightly negative connection towards the brand SARIE…?